Out of Time
by JC of the Corn
Summary: SPINOFF to Out of Place: What if Winter managed to convince the council to send her back to Earth? What if it was two years later for her, but time works differently on Earth? What will happen when Team JNPR, RWBY and Winter Schnee find out that the man they came to see is nothing but an old man now? Will he be happy to see them? Can they mend the broken fences? (HIATUS)
1. Chapter 1

**Okay everyone, so I had this idea going around in my head that I talked to Blaiseingfire about making a story where Winter did come back too late, and Jem was already an old man, and she came back just in time to see him die. And as I was writing it, I was watching one of my favorite movies, Secondhand lions. And I thought...wait...why not do it like that?**

 **I could see Jem as being like Uncle Hub, so I am now rewriting it to be like the movie, with my own twist on it of course.**

 **He probably won't be fighting shieks or anything, but hey, I'll see what I can do.**

 **Anyways, here we go, Out of Time.**

* * *

Winter was happy, she had finally done it, she had convinced the council to let her go back to Earth. It had taken her awhile. But she had finally done it. It had been two years since she had seen Jeremiah. She knew he would wait for her. But she wondered how he was? Had he gotten taller? Was he still growing his beard? Was he still drinking a lot? She had so many questions.

"Here I am again…" She said to herself as she saw the house of his parents.

For some reason, it looked…different, almost as if it was older than it was before. She figured it was just her eyes playing tricks on her. After all, she hadn't been gone that long. Granted two years was a long time, but not enough for the house to age that much.

Odd, she didn't see his truck outside. In fact, she didn't recognize the car that was in the drive? Did they get a new vehicle?

"How do you think he's been?" Nora was excited to come back.

Team RWBY and JNPR had been invited back to join her, after convincing the council of course. Either way, they were all excited to see their friend again. They wondered what crazy things he had been up to since they had been gone.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Did they change the door knockers since we were here last?" Ruby asked as the place looked so different.

"Yes, can I help you?" A tall man answered the door as Winter nodded.

"Yes, I'm looking for Jeremiah, is he here?" She asked as she didn't recognize this guy.

A visiting relative perhaps?

"Huh? Hang on." He said as he called into the house.

"Hey John! Someone is looking for Uncle Jem!" The man said as Winter was confused.

"Uncle?" She said as she didn't remember her saying he was an uncle.

"More importantly, this guy seemed way too old to be his nephew.

"I'll get it!" Another man came to the door as he looked over the nine.

"Are you one of those traveling salesman trying to find him?" He asked as they shook their heads.

"Uh, no, we're just friends." Winter was confused, traveling salesman?

"Friends, wow, its just…" He looked over all of them.

"Just what?" Ruby asked, she didn't know why they were acting so weird.

"Well, you're all pretty young." Okay, something was definitely off

"What is that supposed to mean?" Yang asked as Jerry was not that much older than them.

"Well, its hard to believe that old man would have any young friends considering how he tends to dislike a good portion of the younger generation." He said as the group got a very, very bad feeling.

"What…What do you mean Old man?" Winter asked as she suddenly didn't feel so good.

"Well, he's over eighty years old, that qualifies as old."

 **On the road**

"Eighty years old?!" Winter couldn't believe it as the had rented a van to take to the address his relative had written down.

"Winter, calm down…" Weiss tried to reason with her.

"Calm down?! It's been over sixty years for him! Sixty years I kept him waiting! I wasted his life!" Winter was distraught.

Ever since Jeremiah's…nephew? Great nephew? Had told her that Jeremiah was in his eighties, she hadn't been able to stop shaking. How was this possible? What had been only two years for her, had been well over decades for him. Why did time move faster here? It didn't make any sense! Why was this happening?

"Look, at least he gave us the address, maybe we can go see him…" Weiss said as she had gotten Jeremiah's address from his nephew.

But he gave them a warning.

" _My Uncle is a bit…eccentric, god help you if you step onto his property."_ The nephew warned as they were certain that Jem would realize it was them.

"So what did he say what Jeremiah has been doing with his life?" Ruby asked as Weiss nodded.

"Said he joined the Army, served for eight years, was honorably discharged, won the lottery, and ended up traveling the world, no one saw him for years until he finally came back." That was all Weiss could gather from the information.

Winter was nervous, she didn't know what to think. She was glad to hear that Jeremiah had a life to himself, but to think that she wasn't around to experience it. It made her sad, she remembered the kiss they shared so long ago, she thought it felt like ages ago…but for him it really was. The guilt was really getting to her.

"Winter…it's not your fault…you couldn't have possibly known that time moved differently here…" Weiss said as Winter had her grip tightly on the steering wheel.

"But…so many years we won't get to spend together…all because I couldn't convince the council to…let me come back…" She said as this day started out happy.

But now all she felt was sadness. And shame in herself that they would never be able to get those moments back. She could only hope that Jem would be willing to forgive her.

"Wow…look…" Yang said as Winter looked at the signs surrounding the road they were going down.

"WARNING! TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT!"

"TURN BACK NOW!"

"ABANDON HOPE ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE!"

"He must not like visitors…" Blake said as she couldn't believe this was happening.

"Kind of a switch from when we knew him." Nora said as team JNPR looked out at the signs.

"Look at his house…" Jaune said as it was a fairly large house.

It looked like one of those old farmhouses, except fairly kept in shape, right next to it was a barn with a few old car wrecks in it. As well as an old beat up Dodge Dakota that Winter recognized as Jem's truck.

"Wow…how long has it been since we saw that thing?" Yang said as it brought back memories to when they got stuck in the back of the truck when he was driving them to his parents house.

"It's still in good shape." Winter remarked as he must have been taking care of it.

"So where is he?" The two teams asked as they stepped out onto the ground.

"RUFF RUFF RUFF!" They turned to see a dog heading their way.

Except this one was acting as a guard dog, and it was not happy to see them.

"Woah! Down boy!" Ruby said as the dog continued to growl.

It was a large doberman, and it was very protective of its master. It would not let anything get to him without his permission, it would not be-

"Look what I got!" Yang said as she held out a piece of bacon.

"RUFF!" The doberman got distracted as he sat on his haunches like a puppy.

"Why do you have that?" Ren asked as she shrugged.

"Lesson I learned from Jem, always have emergency bacon on you." She said as she gave it to the dog who proceeded to run back to his perch on the porch.

"That's good, but…where is Jem?" Winter asked as they suddenly heard a noise.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"COME ON NOW!" They heard an elderly voice say as Winter froze.

It was old, and different, but she knew that voice anywhere….It was him.

"It's coming from over there…" Nora said as they went behind the house.

Only to see an elderly man hunched over looking at the water with a shotgun. Another Doberman by his side as he seemed to be trailing something.

"Damn catfish is elusive, okay Brutus, when I shoot, you swoop in there and get him, got it?" He told the dog as the two teams and Winter were terrified of saying something.

"HEY JEM!" Nora yelled out as the old man twitched a bit.

He turned around and that was when they got a good look at his face. His beard had gone gray, and it was only down to his chest, his eyes had grown dull, but they still retained the spark, his face had gone wrinkly, but there was no doubt about it.

"Jem…" Winter said as they started walking forward.

"Who the hell are they?" Jem said as he turned to his dog who seemed just as confused.

"Jem! It's us!" Nora said with a wave as he still looked confused.

"You know! Us!" Ruby joined in as he couldn't get a good look.

"Team JNPR! RWBY!" They yelled as his eyes widened in recognition.

"Them….." He said in a low voice.

"Damn…." He saw that one figure in particular was getting closer.

A figure he recognized all too well.

"Winter…." He said as she walked forward.

"Jem..its…its good to see you-" He just walked right past them with a sour look on his face.

"Oh crap…" Yang realized this may not have been a good time.

"Jem!" Winter yelled as she saw him walking up to his house.

"Leave me alone!" He said as he took his vest off and put it on a post.

"Jem! Please! I just want to talk!" She said as they followed the elderly man up the steps.

"Talk? Talk? After sixty years?" He said in a bitter tone as he looked back at them.

"And look at that…none of you have aged a day…just my luck." He said as he whistled.

"Julius, why the heck didn't you stop them?" He asked as he saw Julius licking his chops.

"Oh…Bacon….damn we got to teach you not to take things from people we don't know." He said as Winter winced at that.

"You know us!" Nora said as she was actually shocked at what he was saying.

"Do I really?! Do I?" He asked as he leaned against a post.

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked as he looked at them.

"Don't you remember? The promise you all made a long time ago?" He said as they all looked down.

"You said you would come back…" His eyes flashed with sadness for a bit.

"But we did!" Pyrrha couldn't believe this old man was the same boy that took them in all those years ago.

"In another time and another place!" He couldn't help it, his age had made him irritable.

"What happened to the man who would welcome us with open arms? The one who made a promise to me…" Winter said as Jem went silent.

"The promise that we would see each other again?" She asked as Jem looked away.

"That man is long gone….this old man is all that's left of him…" He said as he walked inside.

"Now get on out of here, I'm sure you all have important work to be done back in Remnant." He said as he sat down on his porch.

Only for the two teams to just stand there and look at him.

"Well? Go on…" He made a shooing motion with his hand.

"Yeah about that…." Ren said as he cooked up a lie.

"Oh you got to be kidding me, don't tell me that you have no way of getting back? Don't tell me that crap!" He said as Ren narrowed his eyes.

"The machine we used to get here has a recharge fuction, it can only be used once a month, we figured that…you would be fine with having us around for a month." Ren said to the old man as he narrowed his eyes.

"Well you thought wrong, find a hotel." He said as he stood up.

"Wait!" Ruby said as he turned to look at her.

She was giving him the puppy dog eyes.

"Oh no! That may have worked on me when I was younger! But I am not falling for that again!" Jem said with determination.

"mmmmmm." She got her eyes to water a little bit.

"Sorry still nothing." Jem wasn't cracking.

"MMMMMM." She dribbled her lip a little bit.

"Not going to do it." There was a slight crack in his facadae.

"Pwwweeeaassse, for old wimes sake?" Ruby said in a cute tone.

"…Son…Of…A…Bitch…" He said as he opened the door.

"Get in there…" He said as they started to walk in.

" _Still works!"_ Ruby signed to Yang.

" _Yeah, but we were THIS close to getting thrown out!"_ Yang signed back.

" _I don't think he actually will! Jem may be pissed, but he's not heartless to turn someone in need away!"_ Ruby knew Jem was pissed off right now, but surely he would come around eventually, right?

"Jem…" Winter put a hand on his shoulder.

"Winter….just please get inside…" He said as he didn't want to look at her.

Winter had never felt this guilty in her life, she wanted to explain to him that she didn't mean for this to happen! She didn't mean to leave him alone for so long, but..how could she say that? After all, he wasn't exactly in the most forgiving mood, and she knew how stubborn he was before, imagine what he was like as an old man?

"I'm sorry…" She whispered as she walked in.

What could they do to mend this situation?


	2. Going to Work

**Remember when I said this story was going to be like Secondhand lions? I wasn't joking. Some of these scenes you may recognize. Some you may not. As for Jeremiah, just remember, while he is still technically a Self Insert, obviously I have altered some details. For example, he is Army Airborne in this, and while I am currently in talks with a recruiter, it is not guaranteed I'll be able to do that. So for the purpose of this story, he is int he army. After all, this is an AU, so its not stolen valor.**

 **Anyways, don't think that it will all be drama, once again this is based on Secondhand lions, so there will be comedy.**

 **If you haven't seen the movie, watch it, it's a good film.**

 **Anyways, Winter and Jeremiah is not an offical pairing anymore due to the age difference, while she stills love him, they take on more of a mentor relationship in this**

* * *

Winter looked around, the interior was rustic as she figured. All over the walls were photographs. She walked over to one she knew was Jem as a young man. He was in his Army uniform with a maroon beret. Obviously he went Airborne infantry, the next photo was of him in..some kind of desert? Did he…did he get shipped to Afghanistan? Her heart skipped a beat, he had gone off to war? He could have died? And she would have never known?

She looked over at another picture, this time it was of Jem visiting his parents in the hospital..Winter didn't need to look at it long to realize that those must have been her last moments..

"Grandmama…" Nora came to a sudden realization.

If Jem was an old man….that meant Grandmama must have been long dead…Nora couldn't help but cry at that. The old lady who had been so kind to them must have been dead for years….which means, his parents? Brother? Sister? Were they all gone too? Jem was in his eighties, and all of those people had been older than him…had they passed on? It was too depressing to think about.

Winter took notice of something out the window,five crosses out in the backyard. She recognized the names, Dale….Jameson…Sherry….his Momma's name….and Zeus. They were all gone now….he was all alone. But for how long? How long had they been gone?

"This was not what I was expecting…" Pyrrha said as she couldn't believe what was going on.

When they got back to Remnant, they changed everything, the invasion never happened, Cinder was taken into custody, Salem had been defeated after years, but despite everything they lost, everyone did have a happy ending. The only thing left was for Winter and her friends to make the trip back to Earth. But there was one thing they were learning.

For whatever good was happening in their world, bad was happening in Jeremiahs.

"Guests rooms are all on this level, help yourself to whichever one you want, I'll be upstairs…" He said as he started the walk upstairs.

"Uhm, don't you think you should be taking it easy with those stairs?" Ren pointed out as he did seem like he was a bit old and creaky.

"If I can't climb a damn flight of stairs I might as well be in the grave!" He yelled on his way up as everyone winced at that.

"Grave…" Winter really didn't want to picture him being dead.

They went silent after he went up to Bed.

"So…now what?" Jaune asked as they looked at each other.

"What do we do?" Nora added on.

"What can we do? I mean, we've been gone for sixty years…" Even Yang wasn't sure about how to remain positive.

"Sixty years…" Winter still couldn't believe it.

"We were lucky enough that the puppy dog eyes still work on him, he was this close to kicking us out and never looking back…" Ruby knew that if her puppy dog eyes failed, then they were truly hopeless.

"How could he have changed so much?" Nora never thought Jeremiah would be like the pissed off old guys in movies.

"Well, if those pictures and graves are anything to go by, he's lost a lot…" Winter said as she pointed to the graves outside.

"But, wouldn't he be happy to see us? Like a breath of fresh air?" Blake pointed out as those who lost everything would seek the comfort of those he knows.

"I think he was expecting us years ago, after all…if you're not there for someone when they need you the most, you can't expect them to be happy to see you when…" Winter choked up a bit at the next part.

"When they don't need you…anymore." She looked down at that.

"Hey! Don't talk like that! I'm sure when Jem gets over his initial shock, he'll be a lot more welcoming." Weiss comforted her sister.

"Even if he does, what would be the point? Look at us…" She said as she looked at everyone.

"In a month, we go back home, and who knows how much time will have passed befor e we come back here again, what if he's dead by then?" She asked with tears in her eyes.

"He'll have…died all alone…with no one there to care…" She said as she felt bad thinking about it.

"I think we all need some rest, we'll talk about this in the morning, after everyone is well rested." Ren said as everyone nodded.

"Hopefully this is one bad dream…" Nora spoke under her beath.

The nine got into their rooms, luckily the farmhouse was spacious, and at four of them could share a room, while Yang, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Winter got their own rooms. Nora could still sleep like a rock, so she was dead asleep as soon as she hit the pillow. But Winter looked at her window, in the tower of the farmhouse where Jem was staying.

Sixty years, you know it was funny, she thought two years was a long time to wait, but she was certain that Jeremiah would be happy to see her again. But never did she expect that time moved differently here, and now here she was, still in her twenties, while he was in his early eighties. Who could ever see this happening?

The sad part was, she did miss him those two years, not a day went by that she didn't feel bad that she was making him wait another day. But she always told herself that when they did finally reunite, it would be a wonderful thing. But now that she was here, nothing went as planned. After all, it isn't easy to have a reunion with someone who had given up hope of your return. How she wished she could do it all again. She wished she had thought of a way to come back sooner. Why didn't she try and recreate the dust mixture that brought them here in the first place? Ozpin still had the formula, so why didn't she use it?

"No, I can't think like that it's in the past, there's nothing I can do to change it." She said as she took one last look at Jem's Window from her room.

She saw him reading a book, and apparently he had to wear reading glasses now, made him look old and wise. She saw him turn off the light as he put the book down and got ready to bed.

"I sure hope tomorrow is better…" She said as she turned off her own light and got ready to sleep.

 **NEXT MORNING**

COCK A DOODLE DOO! (I don't know how to write a rooster noise, so fuck it)

"What the?" Winter groggily woke up as she heard the Rooster crowing.

COCK A DOODLE DO-

She was then cut off as she heard a rifle.

"SHUT UP ALREADY!" Jem said as she heard the sound of a Rooster freaking out and running away.

"Well…that's one thing that hasn't changed…." She heard the sound of someone coming down the steps.

"Good morning Jem." Winter said as Jem took a weird look at her.

"Huh…so that wasn't a dream." He said as he walked right by.

Okay, so already not the best introduction to today.

"No, it wasn't." She said as she followed him to the kitchen.

"Can't blame a guy for thinking that, been waking up for the past sixty years after a similar dream, never came true." He said as he got ready to make breakfast for himself.

"It came true now…" She said as he sighed.

"And as I said before, sixty years too late…" He pulled out sausages and eggs.

"Jem, can we at least try to be civil?" She asked as she wasn't expecting all this hostility.

"Sure, I can try." He said as he didn't say another word after that.

Winter figured it was a start. It was certainly a lot better than him showcasing his anger and bitterness. She was honestly hoping he would be in a better mood today, but so far it did not appear so.

The rest of the group came walking in shortly.

"Whats for breakfast?" Ruby asked as Jem was cooking his.

"Whatever you cook for yourselves, I have work to do." He said as he took his breakfast outside on the porch.

"Well…he's in a good mood." Yang said sarcastically.

"Did anyone notice he still has red dawn?" Ruby asked as she recognized the gun he picked up on the way out.

"Well I guess that's a positive sign." Ren said as he at least kept one thing to remind them of his past.

"What did he mean by work?" Winter asked as they all sat down.

The meal went by mostly in silence, they heard a car pull up as they took a look outside to see that some scrawny looking hipster had gotten out of the car.

"Heya there Mister! We were hoping you would like to donate money to 'Hipsters for Happiness.' Just one investment will create a safe space for-" They heard a voice say as they heard another sound.

BANG!

"AHHHHH!" The hipster ducked behind his car.

"GUNS SHOULDN'T EXIST!" They heard the hipster yell as as they heard another gun shot as the group ran outside.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Winter yelled as Jem was pointing Red Dawn at the hipster was now driving away at break neck speed.

"Working." He said as he reached down and grabbed a beer.

"You just shot at that guy?!" Ruby said as she couldn't believehe would do that.

"Teaching him an important lesson, the world isn't a safe space." He said as they saw another car pulling down the driveway.

"No no no no." Winter said as she saw another skinny bean pole get out of the car.

"Hi Sweetie! Would you like to donate to 'Liberals against recreational shooting'?"

BANG BANG!

"AAAHHHH! HE'S GOT A GUN!" The whiny baby man immediately was triggered and jumped back into his car.

"You can't just shoot at people because they say things you don't like!" Blake said as he took another sip of beer.

"I'm over eighty, I don't give a fuck." He said as they saw another car coming down the road.

"Hi there!" A furry stepped out as Blake freaked out.

"NO!" She took his gun and fired at the furry herself.

"AAHHH!" The furry immediately drove off.

"….Can't just shoot at people because they say things you don't like?" He asked as she handed him his rifle back and walked away.

"Shut up…" She said as she sat with the others.

"Woah, he really is the crazy old man in the movies." Nora said as they saw him continue to shoot at traveling salesman,hippies, hipsters, and overall peace pushers.

"There is no way this can be legal." Winter said as she started at him.

"Well, they are on his property…and it clearly says no trespassing." Ruby pointed out all the signs they saw on the way here.

"Jem! Is this really what you do all day?" Winter asked as she wasn't expecting this.

"When you get to my age, you'll see that you no longer care." He said as he saw another one coming down the road.

"Oh great, this time it's PETA." He said as he got ready to shoot at them before they even got out of the car.

BANG BANG BANG!

"You can't just go around shooting people!"

"I believe I just did." He said as this went on for awhile.

 **Two hours later**

Well there we go, two hours later, he had shot at PETA activists, Antifas, reporters from Feminist Frequency, Hipsters, Far left liberals, some guy from the Furry collective, and a guy who tried to sell him a prius. It had been an eventful day.

And Winter and the others had not made any progress with him at all. Everytime they tried to talk to him, he was either busy loading or shooting, or he was busy pinpointing when his next target would arrive.

"Well, I think that about wraps it up." He said as he stood up and took his rifle back inside.

"So uhm, do you want to do anything today?" Weiss asked as she was trying to make conversation.

"Probably going to go and see if I can shoot that catfish, and then eat it and drink whiskey." Well, seems like he still had the penchant for alcohol.

"Why don't you sit and talk with us for a bit?" Blake asked as he shook his head.

"Sorry, catfish comes first." He said as he got his shotgun out and whistled.

"Brutus! Julius!" They saw the two dobermans come out.

"Come on, we got a catfish to kill." He said as they followed their master.

"Well…that went well." Ren said as Winter spoke up.

"Well…he hasn't kicked us out yet, that's good at least."


	3. Annoying Relatives and Dinnertime

**So here we go, I took a break from studying to type this up really quick.**

* * *

"Why is he trying to shoot a catfish?" Pyrrha asked as they saw him with his shotgun trained on the water.

"Yeah, why not just use a pole?" Winter asked.

"Something tells me he would just say 'I'm old, deal with it.'" Nora said as he had been using that excuse a lot.

"FINALLY GOT YOU!" He said as he came back with Brutus having the catfish in his mouth, along with a few others on a stringer.

"Don't you think you should use a pole?" Jaune asked as Jem walked into the house.

"Ain't got time for that, I'm old, I could have a heart attack right now, not going to waste time sitting on the porch with a pole." Once again, that made everyone wince.

They really didn't want to think of Jem dying in front of them. Especially when they were trying to get to know him again.

"Uhm…will we have to cook our own food again?" Nora asked as he looked at them.

"No, not this time." He said as they breathed out a sigh of relief, surely that mean he was doing better right? And he was more willing to trust them since he was offering to cook for the-

"Because this has to be cooked the right way, and you nine will probably screw it up." He said as he walked inside to prepare the fish.

"….So close…" Ren said as he shook his head.

Seemed like he had gotten a bit angrier as he got older. Funny, they always thought he would be one of the happy jolly old guys. Boy they were wrong. They looked at each other trying to debate who was going to try and get him to talk a little more. After all, communication was the first step to forming a healthy relationship again.

Winter looked down at that. Realisitcally she could not go back to being Jem's lover, that ship had sailed. And she was not looking for a sugar daddy. As terrible s it sounds, they were too far apart now. But…maybe they could still have a friendship?

Don't get her wrong, she wished they could go back to the way things were, but how? She couldn't turn back time, and Jem probably had no wish to be in a relationship, especially since Winter was in her twenties, and he was now old enough to be her Grandfather. So that was completley out of the question. Even if by chance, they did go back to the way things were, there was no way they could keep it up. She loved him…but did he still love her? She didn't know, he sure as hell didn't act like it.

Which till brought her back to her first question, how do they work on repairing their relationship.

"Maybe if we do something nice for him?" Nora asked as everyone looked at her.

"Pretty sure we can't just write him a card and he'll forgive us…" Ruby said as Nora nodded.

"Well maybe if we helped out around here?" She asked as she looked at the old barn.

"I doubt that will work, he doesn't seem to have much faith in our abilities around the house if his attitude towards cooking catfish is anything to go by." Ren stated as everyone looked down.

"Well what can we do?" Weiss asked as they heard a voice speak up.

"Well for one! You can stop talking when I'm trying to work!" They heard a voice call out as they realize he could hear them.

"He can hear us?" Nora tried to whisper.

"Nora, I'm old! Not deaf!"

She blushed at that. Well great, now he knew what they were planning. What the heck were they supposed to do now? And that was when it happened. They saw a powder blue Toyota pulling up the driveway.

"Damn it…." Jem said as he came outside to look at it.

"You want to try and make it up to me?" He said as they all nodded vigrously.

"Get these people out of here." He said as he walked back inside.

"Who are they?" Winter asked as he looked at them.

"Relatives." He went back inside.

"Wait, what?" Nora couldn't believe he just said that.

"HEY OLD MAN!" A loud snobbish voice said as a man in a pair of skinny jeans and thick rimmed glasses stepped out of one side. While his big burly wife came out of the other side.

And their two daughters popped out of the back.

"Oh crap…" Winter suddenly realized why he didn't want to see them.

They were everything he didn't want to see in his relatives.

"OLD MAN! We're out of money! We need some to buy tickets to the 'Sarah Silverman' tribute show!" The 'man' whined as he held out his empty wallet.

"Get the hell out of here!" He yelled from the kitchen.

"OOOOLLLLLDDD MAAAANNN! I'M ENTITLED TO SOME OF THAT MONEY!" He yelled like a little whiny baby as he wasn't getting his way.

"You're not entitled to anything I own!" He really didn't like this grandnephew.

After his brother passed away, he left a son behind, that son ended up going down the wrong path, and ended up having a one night stand, which resulted in his Grandnephew, who was taken in by the mother's parents. The problem was the mother's parents were those 'Every child gets a trophy' and 'Masculinity is toxic.' People. So he did not grow up the way that Jem was proud of.

"YES I AM! YES I AM!" He said as he looked at the people on the porch.

"WHAT?! YOU WOULD GIVE THEM MONEY?! BUT NOT ME!" Phoenix yelled as Winter stepped up.

"I believe its time for you to leave." She said as this guy was getting on her nerves.

"DON'T TALK TO MY HUSBAND LIKE THAT!" The burly woman stepped up as she pushed her husband to the side.

"He's being rude to my friend, I believe its time for him to go." Winter said as the woman's face turned red.

"Look Little Miss STRING BEAN!" The woman started poking her in the chest.

"We're not leaving without the money we need, if you don't get out of my way I will break your-" The woman was cut off as Winter punched her right in the nose.

"BWWWAAAAA!" The woman burst into tears as she ran back to the toyota.

The ironic thing is that the back of her shirt said 'Beer swilling Ball Breaker.' On the back….Apparently not, apparently her bark was worse than her bite.

"I'LL SUE! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" Phoenix the hipster said as they drove off.

"Geez, no wonder he doesn't like his relatives." Winter turned to see that Jem was actually looking a her with a source of amusement.

"Well…I have to admit, I was half expecting you to yell at them, but props for landing a punch." He said as Winter felt like they were making progress.

"Does this mean we'll talk more?" She asked as his smile left.

"….You're not off the hook, but if it makes you feel any better, you earned some points with that punch." He said as he went back inside.

Winter shrugged, it wasn't much, but at least it was something, still though, where they related to Jem? How the heck did they end up like that? She knew his family would never let their grandchildren be raised like…oh….she forgot. He was the only one left.

"If you want to eat, you better hurry and get in here." Jem called out as Blake was the first one in due to the scent of fish.

Her favorite fish may have been tuna, but Catfish was indeed a fine meal.

"Well, at least he warmed up a bit." Nora looked on the bright side.

"I wouldn't exactly call that "Warming up." If anything that was just him being grateful for getting his relatives out of here." Winter said as Ruby spoke up.

"Why did his relatives say they were entitled to his money?" She asked as Ren spoke up.

"Well, based on his reaction, they believe that because he has money, he should take care of them, but from when we knew him, he seemed to be the kind who believed you should make your own fortune." That was the best explanation he could get.

They walked inside, this time the table was completley set for everyone, a dead catfish looking up at all of them. In truth, some of the people there didn't really like Catfish, but something told them that they either ate what he had, or they starved, so they would eat it anyway.

Blake sat down and took a few bites, enjoying the nice taste of catfish when…

CRUNCH

"Ow…" She said as she spit something out.

"Watch the buck shot." Jem said as he spit his buckshot out into a glass.

Okay so that was awkward. The meal continued in silence.

"Sooo…your…nephew? Who sent us here said that you disappeared for about thirty years, where did you go?" Ruby asked as he stopped cutting into his catfish.

"You know…if you don't mind telling…" Yang said trying not to press the old man.

*Sigh*

"Here and there." He said as he took a bite of catfish.

Okay so that wasn't much, where was Here and there? Was it somewhere he didn't want to talk about?

"So…like what kind of places?" Nora asked as he sighed again.

"Well, Japan, China, Norway, some other places." He wasn't really one for speaking up about it, after all, it happened.

"Why did you disappear?" Yang honestly didn't know why they talked about Jem like he went missing.

"Needed some time away, after the Army and…..and…" He trailed off as he remembered what event happened when he was in the army.

"I just needed some time out of the country." He said as he spent most of his time surviving in the wilderness.

He refused to say anything else about it. And they all went back to their awkward meal time. Winter wanted to know what he had been doing in those countries, she knew he won the lottery and made a few healthy investments, but even then how could he afford it all? Did he have some sort of job? Was there something he wasn't telling them.

"So...I see you joined the Army, like you said you would." She said as he looked back at his old photos.

"Yeah, hard to believe my waiver went through after all….I thank god for that." He said as Winter's eyes got a look in them.

Good, she found something he liked talking about. Maybe she could work with that.

"So what did you do?" She asked as he looked at her.

"I was Airborne, basically I was the guy jumping out of planes." He said as Ren spoke up.

"That sounds exciting." Skydiving did seem exciting.

"Well…it was, in peace times not much happens, so mostly I spent my time cleaning barracks in my free time." He said as he still couldn't believe that was what happened.

Seemed like no matter who he talked to, if you were in a combat MOS and in a time of peace, you were also a full time janitor. No way around it.

"At least you were safe." Winter was trying to get him to look on the bright side.

"Well, I was, after I got out, I started doing wilderness survival, needed to learn to disconnect from all this modern technology crap." He said as he rather enjoyed his house here.

It was simple, and while he did have basics like a TV and a computer, most of the other stuff was just a bunch of old stuff like a wood burning stove, and regular appliances. He didn't like some of the new technology like the robots that did all the work for you.

For gods sake, he was old, didn't mean he still couldn't work.

"So that's why you traveled so much?" Ruby asked as he shook his head.

"As I said, I travelled because I needed to get away, what matters is I eventually came home." He said as went back to his Catfish.

"Can I ask you something?" Nora asked as he sighed.

"If it has anything to do with the years I spent traveling, then no." He said as everyone narrowed their eyes at him for that.

"No…I just want to know…..what happened to Grandmama?" Now that caused him to freeze a bit.

Nora looked at him with sadness in her eyes, the old lady had been so kind to her when they first met. Treated her like a Granddaughter…Nora loved her. And to learn that she was gone. Nora had to admit, she suddenly knew how Ren must have felt when he lost his parents.

Nora didn't even get to say Goodbye….she didn't get to say Goodbye to the one woman who treated her like a daughter…

"She died….died three years after you left…..Natural causes…" Jem hadn't thought about his Grandmother in a long time.

Nora looked down at that. Even though she knew it had to be true, it still wasn't pretty to hear.

"Yeah….never thought it would actually happen, she was a war horse….hell a few times I thought I would beat her to the grave…" He looked like he was remembering painful memories.

"And then one day…she just collapses…we take her to the hospital, her breathing was shallow, almost like she was struggling to breath, I sat down besides her, and I held her hand…and I knew it was time to say goodbye…" And then he looked at everyone.

"And she only had one thing to say…" He said as he stood up and took his dish over to the sink.

"She said….."Where is Nora? Where is my little orange?"

Nora felt a pang in her heart at that, she wanted to know the story, but she really wish she didn't know that part.

"I tried to tell her that you were in a different state, and she begged me to call you, she begged me to find you, she wanted to see you again one more time, and over and over again, I had to tell her that I couldn't find you…." He smashed a plate against the wall.

"The last thing I saw was tears in her eyes as she passed on…in her last moments she asked me to do one simple thing for her….find you….and I couldn't do it." Nora looked down as she realized just what had happened.

"I'm sorry…" Winter said as she moved to comfort him.

"Damn mess I made…" Jem left to go get a broom.

So far….this was not going well.


	4. Angry Words

**Okay so I managed to pump this out in about ten minutes because I couldn't sleep.**

* * *

Nora had her face buried in her hands as Ren glared at the door Jem walked out of. Maybe he didn't mean to make Nora cry, but it didn't change the fact that he made Nora cry. Everyone else was sitting around in silence. They knew Grandmama had to have been dead for years, but to hear what had happened, it was an awful feeling.

"I couldn't be there Ren…" Nora couldn't help but cry.

To hear that the woman you loved like family had passed away was hard, but to hear that the last thing she wanted to see before she died was her adoptive granddaughter who was nowhere to be found, it was a bullet to the heart.

"Nora, there was nothing you could do…" Ren couldn't believe what Jem had told them.

If he didn't know any better, he would say Jeremiah had said that on purpose just to spite them.

"Look, I think we all need our sleep." Winter said as Ren carried Nora, who was currently too distraught to walk.

"Where are you going?" Weiss asked as she looked at her sister.

"Jem and I need to have a talk…." She said with a serious look on her face as she walked outside to where he was sitting on the porch.

"Was that really necessary?!" She yelled at the old man sitting on the porch smoking a cigar.

"She asked, I gave her an answer." He said as he blew smoke out of his nose.

"I thought you promised you would quit." She said as she glared at the cigar.

"Well, the thing about making a promise to a woman who didn't keep hers, you don't see a reason to keep yours." He said as he narrowed his eyes.

"Is that what this is about?! You made Nora cry in there! All of this just for some petty revenge?" She had never been this mad at him in her life.

"No, that's not what this was about." He said as he looked at her.

"You see, after so many years pass, and you get used to the fact that your family is DEAD and never coming back, you stop thinking about it, you don't want to remember it, when you're all alone, you don't want to think of all the fun times you had with people, whether they be friends or family, because all you will be reminded of is how they died, and how you're stuck living!" He yelled as Winter just continued to glare.

"It may have been decades for you! But only two years for us! You can't expect us to just be able to accept all the changes that occurred!" She yelled as he narrowed his eyes.

"Oh Forgive me _Ms. Schnee,_ I'm sorry my life doesn't fit to your standards." He said coldly as she just got angrier.

"You know that's not what I meant! You sat in there and broke Nora's heart!" He looked away at that.

"No sense in lying to her, do you really think I shouldn't have told her the truth? She asked me, and I told her, do you think she was expecting some happy tale with sunshine and rainbows? News flash, Death doesn't care about you fairy tale ideals, it only cares about one thing, how many people it can take, no matter who is left in pain over the loss, what Nora is feeling in there, that's nothing new…now you all know how I felt all those years ago." He said as he began the walk to his room.

"Can't you at least try and act like you're happy to see us?" She asked as she knew he was holding a grudge against them for being gone for so long.

"No, you can't act happy when you're not….if this was fifty years ago, I would have been ecstatic to hear from you…but the thing about waiting…" He turned and glared at her.

"You eventually get tired, tell me, do you remember when we last met? The day that you went back to Remnant and we made that promise to each other? And I swore to you I would always keep it?" He asked as she nodded.

"What does that have to do with anything?" She asked as she didn't understand.

"Well…I waited for you, the first few years I told myself 'She's just having a difficult time getting back, she'll be here soon.' And I thought it was going to be great, heck I even continued to watch the show, and I watched the progress being made, enemies you were fighting, and I didn't know how things had changed, if they did at all, I just assumed you were busy fighting a war, and I needed to be more patient…and I was…" Now he was actually losing his angry expression.

"Five years after you left, I was talking with the guys in my unit, they keep asking me about this 'Mysterious girl' who I am waiting for, I tell them about you, and they all say the same thing, 'She's a lost cause, she's not coming back, you have to move on.' But I didn't listen to them, because I was convinced that they were wrong, and you were coming back. I was still young, and I wasn't afraid of being alone my entire life…" He said as he glared at her.

"Ten years later, I start to get worried, surely she must have gotten here by now, the council couldn't be that stubborn could they? Even if they were, how would they ever find out? Only a few people knew how to make that dust, surely she must be coming soon? Where is she? Where did she go? You were still alive in the show, so what was going on?" It was almost as if he was asking himself that question.

"Fifteen years later…FIFTEEN YEARS! I didn' feel worry, all I felt was anger. You weren't there! Fifteen years, and not a single sign of you! I started to wonder if I had imagined It all! Maybe this whole thing was some half assed fanfic that never got off the ground! But no! I still held on to that foolish belief that you were coming back! I was only in my thirties! I still had time!" His voice was getting angrier and angrier as he went on.

"Another fifteen years later…I'm sitting in a bar in New Zealand, looking at my phone, the number hasn't changed, and I know I gave you it to carry with you so no matter where I was, you would always be able to find me and call me, sort of a way that you could contact me when you did come back, I would sit there looking at the pictures of us, just wondering, what if this isn't real? What if I just imagined it all?" His grip tightened on the cigar.

"And then five years later…I snapped, I threw photos into the wall, I smoked, I drank, I did anything I could to forget about it, there was no way it could be real, I had to have imagined it, but no, I knew it was real, and that was what made it even worse, because a fictional character had come into my life, and I fell in love with her….and she made me think that she loved me…" He said as that made Winter wince.

"But Jem, I do lo-" He cut her off, his anger reaching new heights.

"THIRTY FIVE YEARS! I was sick of waiting, and you know what the worst part was? You want to know the worst part?!" He yelled as she was scared of Jem, this was a side she didn't know he had.

"I had been through this before…I had done this whole thing before, you meet…you fall in love….and she leaves, but I told myself you would come back….and years later nothing, I know that was the end because…" He looked her dead in the eyes.

"Because I told you all those years ago about that woman I fell in love with, and how I waited for her for three years to come back, and she moved on with her life, and I had to learn to live on my own again. But you see, in a way, you're even worse…" He didn't care anymore, he needed to say this.

"I TRUSTED YOU! I shared that story with you because I felt I could trust you! You made me feel happy again! You helped me show that life could be good! And I could learn to let it go! And then….then you leave, and you never came back!" He said as he threw the cigar away.

"I shared my experience, and you turned it up to eleven, you didn't make me wait three years, you made me wait SIXTY! And to top it all off, I trusted you more than I had ever trusted anyone before in my life! And then, I had to come to accept a cold hard truth…" Winter was trying to keep her emotions in check.

"You weren't coming back….and I was all alone, but it was too late for me, I was getting older, I couldn't move on and meet someone else….how could anyone compare to you?" Winter froze as she heard that, for once he seemed to be saying something nice…

"How could I possibly move on after one of the most amazing women came into my life? How do you move on from that? How can you live a normal life after a Hunttress from another world comes into your life? How can you lead a normal life? I didn't know how...so I left." He said as he remembered his travels.

"Now, here I am, old, Arthritic, my family is dead, the living relatives I have left hate me, and I hate them, and then, you all come back…" He said as Team RWBY was listening from their bedroom.

"You show up with smiles on your faces, like nothing never happened! And you EXPECT me to just welcome you back with open arms?! AFTER EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED?!" Team RWBY winced at his tone of voice.

"You know we didn't have a choice! We didn't know that time moved differently! You can't blame us for that!" She said as it got really quiet.

Team RWBY was listening with baited breath, while Jaune, Ren, and Pyrrha had come in to listen in as well. Nora was currently in her bed sleeping off the stress of the night.

"You're right…I can't." Jem was admitting he was wrong.

"But do you really think I shouldn't be pissed off? Do you know what I see when I look at you all?" He asked as Winter had a feeling she wasn't going to like the answer.

"I see the life I didn't get to have, I see your youth, and I see the years I wasted, I see the great and powerful Ms. Winter Schnee! Pride of the Atlesian Army! Member of the prestigious Schnee family! And still as young as the last day I saw her, and I see that she will be able to live a life that I never had….it's too late for me….it's too late to go back….and when death comes…" He turned and gave Winter one last look.

"I'll be here waiting with a smile on my face saying 'What are you waiting for?'" That made Winter's blood and the two teams blood run cold.

"Y-You don't mean that…" Winter couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Don't I? Tell me, what have I got left to live for?" He asked as he felt like he had outlived his time.

"I've done all I can with what I got, I did what I could with my life, what do I have left?" He asked as he leaned against the wall.

"You have me…" Winter said as he scoffed.

"You don't need to waste your time with me Winter, look at me!" He yelled as he motioned to his old face.

"I'm old! You're young! It can never work out! Even if somehow we did work it out, which I don't find possible with my age, I'm going to be around for another year or two at most! And all that you'll be left with is a shriveling corpse! So no point in getting close to me again when I don't have much time left!" Winter covered her mouth as she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Just go home….live out the rest of your life….because trust me…." He finally walked back inside.

"Time won't wait for you."


	5. The Store and Radio

**Okay, so I got some time off, I've been really busy with College lately, so I haven't been able to write as much, that and I have to work on both Out of Place, Punisher, Endless possibilites, and this. And then there is my job that keeps me busy.**

 **So yeah, I update this one and out of place more oftently, because they're fun to write, and because Endless Possibilities takes a long time, which is why I update that once a month, sometimes twice a month if I can get my editing in.**

 **So here we go.**

* * *

The next morning was awkward. They were all sitting at the table having breakfast again, Nora wasn't making eye contact with Jeremiah, she had cried all of her tears out last night, but she still couldn't look at him without remembering what he had said. And the group couldn't say much because they had all heardwhat he said last night, and it was kind of hard to make conversation when you heard your friend say he was practically looking forward to his death. How did you follow that up? Hey sorry dude you're all alone, but could you not talk about how you want to die? They weren't even sure if he was serious or not, maybe he was just angry when he said it, but one thing was for sure, he was technically right.

Jem stood up and cleaned his plate, he walked over and grabbed his truck keys.

"I have to go and pick up dog food, I'll be back in an hour." He said as Winter grabbed his arm.

"What?" He asked narrowing his eyes.

"We'll come with." Winter said as her and Ruby and Yang stood up.

"There's no need, I can haul it myself." He said as she shook her head.

"No…we need to talk." Ruby said as he sighed.

"I already had this talk with Winter, I don't need another lec-" He was cut off by Yang.

"It's not that kind of a talk, just…you know, just regular conversation." Yang said as he looked at them.

He sighed and he motioned his hand.

"Fine." He didn't have much to say.

"What are you doing?" Weiss asked her sister.

"You didn't think I was giving up on him that easily did you?" She asked as Weiss shook her head.

"Well No, but…how are you going to change his mind? He seemed pretty stubborn about this whole thing." She said as Winter shook her head.

"Weiss…I'm not trying to get him to date me again, I still love him…I don't know if he still loves me, but…he was right, we can't go back to the way things were, but maybe we can build something else, maybe a solid friendship, anything really…I can't leave him all alone again…" She said as Ren spoke up.

"And when we leave in a month? He'll be all alone again, what then?" He asked as Nora looked up.

"…..We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." She said as she heard a honk.

"We better get going." She said as Ruby and Yang were already out there.

 **At the Store**

"So…Nice weather we're having." Ruby said as the ride had been pretty silent.

"Yeah, not too hot, not too cold." Yang honestly didn't know what kind of conversation they were supposed to be having.

"Are you sure you should be carrying those by yourself?" She said as she saw Jem carrying fifty pound bags of dog food.

"I may be old, but I'm not useless." He said as he put more into his truck.

" Don't you think you should try and take it easy just a little bit?" Winter asked as Ruby and Yang were helping carrying the bags.

"I do take it easy, every time I shoot at catfish, thats me taking it easy, but as you can see, there's nothing for me to shoot here." He said as he put another bag in the truck.

"GOSH! Why is it so hard to find a decent cat food?!" They turned to see some weird kids.

"What the hell?" Ruby asked as she saw people sampling cat food.

"Oh damn….Cat people." He said as Ruby looked at them.

"Are they…eating that cat food?" Yang asked as he nodded.

"They say they were actually supposed to be born as cats, so they come in here every now and then looking for cat food, it's no wonder those idiots look so malnourished, they're not getting proper nutrition." He said as he thought his generation was bad with the political correctness.

But things had apparently gotten even worse.

"This is weird." Suddenly one of them walked over.

"Hey! We heard you talking shit! Who do you think you are?" One of the men wearing cat ears on his head said as Jem rolled his eyes.

"Someone with some common sense!" He said as the cat people glared at him.

"Of course! An old bigot! You just don't understand! We were supposed to be born cats!" They said as he just rubbed his eyes.

"No, you're just a bunch of kids who saw it was becoming a trend to act as a furry, and decided to go along with it." He said as they started screeching.

"Watch yourself old man! We'll kick your ass!" The taller lanky one said.

"Okay, no need for violence." Winter said as she stepped in front of them.

"Oh? Who is this?! Your sugar daddy?!" The tall one said as Winter narrowed her eyes.

"Now now, there is no need for name c-" She was cut off by another one.

"Oh look! The old man has a young slut! Ha, is it hard that you have to pop a viagr everytime you-" The short one was cut off by a fist to the mouth.

"Don't talk to her like that." Now that was a surprise to Winter, Ruby, and Yang.

"Hey! You punched me!" The short one said as he was shocked that the old man punched him.

"We'll kick your ass!" The tall one said as he winded his fist back for a punch.

"Now there is no need to fi-" Ruby was cut off as Jeremiah landed a kick to the knee cap to the tall one.

"AHHH!" He screamed as he fell to his knees, only for Jem to punch him in the throat.

"Oh, holy shit." Ruby couldn't believe Jem was actually winning.

The other three cat people decided to attack, they came at him with their nails out like claws, only one problem, they were too slow, and the thing about fighting was that Old Age and Treachery will beat Youth and Strength any time.

And because they kept going for cat scratches, it really didn't take much to punch them in the throat, chest, and face before they got to him.

"Woah, he is kicking their asses." Yang was honestly surprised as she saw him break a glass coca cola bottle on another one's head.

"What the heck happened to being old and arthritic?" Winter asked as he had one in a head lock.

"I said I'm old, I never said I couldn't force myself to fight." He said as the cat person in the head lock fell asleep due to lack of oxygen

"Do you really think you should be doing this?" Ruby said as he tossed another guy into a shelf.

"Nope, this is just what I needed." He said as he looked around at the mess we made.

"Now we better get out of here." He said as he got in the truck.

"…." Winter looked at him with a smile.

"What?" He asked her with an irritated look.

"You defended me." She said as he rolled his eyes.

"I didn't do it for you, I did it because those kids piss me off." He said as he got in the truck.

"Sure you did." How about that, maybe he wasn't so far gone after all.

Well, she wasn't sure whether or not beating up wimpy teenagers was enough of a reason to think that he still loved her just a little bit. As he probably would have done the same thing when he was younger, it still was good to see that he could still act like his younger self. Even if he was old and wrinkly now. Ruby and Yang had gotten the in the truck and were yelling at them to get in. Sure enough, Jem got back into the the truck and started to drive off.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Ruby asked as he shrugged.

"Army teaches you a lot of things." That was a simple answer.

"Still though…how could those guys think they could kick your ass? I get that they're young but…well, they looked like they could be fatally injured by a toothpick stabbing them in the arm." Yang asked as Jem just spoke up.

"Well, that's the problem with today's youth, hot headed and arrogant, and the problem is that now that everyone coddles them and never taught them to be tough, they just know how to act tough, I swear, when I was a kid, if I had acted like those damn teenagers, my daddy would have beat my ass right then and there." He said in a bitter tone as he hated seeing how soft the kids of today had gotten.

"Wow, sixty years later, and you still make the same complaints." Ruby remembered how he didn't like his own generation that much.

"Well, compared to the kids of today, my generation was practically Roid Rage Testosterone filled monsters." He said as they continued their drive.

"Well, at least you could still fight." Winter pointed out as he sighed.

"Well, luckily those kids don't have the muscle to fight back with, hell, even Jaune could kick my ass now." He joked as they all chuckled.

Back at the house, Jaune suddenly felt insulted, and he didn't know why. But something told him that someone was making fun of his strength. Oh well, no sense worrying about it now.

"Still seemed pretty spry for your age." Winter was honestly surprised at how fast he moved.

"Well, despite our differences, I don't like hearing people insult any of you…" He said as they all suddenly felt better.

"Only I can do that." He said as that dampened their spirits a bit.

"Okay, how about we turn the radio on?" Ruby said as she hit the buttons on his radio.

" _And when she leaves you for dead, you'll be the last to know!"_ A depressing song that made Winter flinch cam on.

"Uhm, maybe the next song." Yang said as she pressed a button.

" _I wake up! And tear drops! They fall down like rain! I put on that old song! We danced to and then!"_ Okay, another depressing song, surely the radio stations were playing something else.

"Okay, try again." Winter said as she pressed a button.

" _It's a little too late! I'm a little too gone! Little too tired of this hanging on! So I'm letting go while I'm still strong enough to!"_ Wow, even Toby Keith whose songs were mostly fun had a depressing song…

She tried to change the song again, hoping she would land on something more lighthearted.

" _Just give it away! There ain't nothing in this house worth fighting over, oh and we're both tired of fighting anyway…just give it away."_ Damn, were they only playing depressing music that reminded Winter of what she missed out on.

"Hang on." Jem said as he took the CD out of the cd player.

They saw it was a CD that said 'Jem's bad day mix.' Apparently he must have used it a lot in the past, because the label was faded and it showed signs of excessive use. Now that just made them feel bad.

"Here, should be something a little happier." He said as he pulled out his old RWBY cd and put it on.

The rest of the ride home was in relative awkward silence.


	6. Mystery

**So I took my I/O psych final today, I think it went well, lets pray I pass. Anyways, some people are wondering why I haven't updated Endless Possibilities in a while. And well, I've had a severe case of Writer's block. I've been working on it bit by bit, but its hard to sit down and write Endless possibilities, mostly because the rest of my fics, I have a plan for what I want to do, but Endless possibilities I almost never have a plan, so it takes a bit. And I know I missed out on my monthly updates. And for that I'm sorry, rest assured I am working on Endless possibilities, its just taking a while.**

 **In the meantime, here is this chapter, now to be honest, I'm a little disappointed in this, its pretty much just filler, and there isn't a lot. But its an update either way.**

* * *

" _I keep dreaming! Dreaming about my dream phone!"_ Why the hell did Jem have that on a CD?

"Dude….this song seems like its for little girls." Yang said as Jem pulled out the CD.

"Sorry, Bootsy Spankins CD, a friend of mine really got into Board James and burned that for." Wow, that had to have been years ago now.

"Look, we're almost back anyways." Winter said as they were pulling into the driveway, only to see the rest of the group in the driveway.

"What is going on?" Jem asked as they all looked nervous.

"I don't know…" Winter said as they got out of the truck.

Jem stepped out of the truck as he walked up to the group. They all looked nervous and were scratching the back of their heads. What the heck was with them? They acted like they had something to hide. He crossed his arms as he looked over all of them, wondering what they could have possibly done that would warrant this kind of reaction.

"What are you doing?" He asked as they all looked like they had thumbs up their asses.

"So…how was the trip?" Weiss asked awkwardly.

"Fine….what did you do?" He knew something was up.

"Well, the funny thing is…." Suddenly he heard a door open.

"Auntie Weiss? Can I have some of the leftover steak?" Jem looked down to see a little girl pop her head out of the house.

Okay, this was new. Who the heck was this? Why did she call Weiss 'Auntie'? What the heck was going on? The only way Weiss could be an Aunt was if Whitley Or….did…did Winter have a boyfriend back home?

"Who is this?" The little girl looked at the old man in front of her, she was holding onto her lion tail protectively.

"…" Jem honestly didn't know what to think.

"This…this is Mommy's special friend, Nala." Winter said as Nala tilted her head in a cute fashion.

"But, he looks a bit…old." Nala said as Jem sighed.

"I know….its….its a bit complicated. Nala could you go back inside?" Winter asked kindly as the little girl nodded.

"Nice to meet you Grandpa!" Jem's blood froze at that.

"Explain. Now." He had no idea what was going on, and he didn't really like feeling like a jackass who was caught off guard.

"To get the obvious out of the way, she's adopted." For some reason, Jem breathed out a sigh of relief, so Winter was faithful after all.

"I found her two years ago, she had been orphaned because of the white fang, I had to take her in, and…she's a really nice girl….please treat her better than you do us…" Winter wanted to make sure to get that out of the way.

"…How about that?" Jem said as he walked back inside.

"What?" She asked.

"Another redeeming quality, you seem to care for the girl, and it isn't something for publicity." He said as he started to walk back inside.

"EEP!" Nala said as she was currently hanging from the chandelier.

"What the hell?" He asked as she was looking around.

"SWEAR!" She said as she pulled out a jar.

"What the heck are you doing?" He asked as he had no idea why she was hanging from the chandelier, or where she pulled that har out of.

"There was a spider! And swear!" She said as she held the jar out for him.

"You got to be kidding me…" He facepalmed as she gave him a look.

"Nope! My best friend Violet gave me the idea for this! So please pay up!" She said as Jem sighed and pulled out a twenty.

"Lien only please." Jem groaned at that.

"Sorry kid, you're in the united states now, might as well use the currency." He said as he put it in anyways.

"….Fine…but why such a big bill?" She asked with those cute innocent eyes.

"It should keep me covered for a few hours." Although in all honesty, he probably should have put a fifty in.

"Nala, how did you get here?" Winter asked as they didn't bring her along.

"I was playing with Cousin Penny, and somehow we ended up in the R&D section of the factory, and…the portal looked pretty…" She said as Winter face palmed but Jem got a bit of a chuckle out of it.

"You're grounded when we get back." She said as Nala groaned.

"But Moooommmmm." She started but Winter silenced her.

"No buts, you know that could have been dangerous…" She turned to Jem.

"Could you, show her to a room where she'll be staying?" Winter asked as Nala looked up at Jem.

"Please Grandpa?" She asked as Jem REALLY didn't like being called that.

"Why are you calling me that?" He asked as Nala tilted her head.

"Well, Mommy said you were going to be my daddy, but you're a little old, so I guess that makes you my Granddaddy?" He said as everyone sweat a bit , hoping Jem didn't yell at the little faunus girl.

"…..I'll show you to your room." He said as the little Faunus girl held his hand.

"Okay! Lead the way!" She said clutching her swear jar.

"…" Jem was silent as he looked up the stairs.

Everyone was silent as they saw what happened. As soon as Jem left the room, Ruby turned to everyone with a grin.

"I think we have our secret weapon!" She whispered to everyone as they looked at where Jem was a second ago.

"You mean Nala?" Weiss had no idea what Ruby was planning.

"Come on, look, unlike the rest of us, Jem couldn't yell at her!" Ruby saw that Jem was about to have a heart attack when he saw what Nala was doing.

Winter gave it some thought before she realized Ruby was right. Jem obviously couldn't yell at the little lion faunus girl. He may be an old miserable bastard. But it would appear he still had a soft spot for children, and of course who couldn't look at Nala and think she wasn't cute? For gods sake, that lion tail and those kitten eyes only helped add to the cuteness level.

"Well I suppose we can-"

CRASH!

"DAMN IT!"

"SORRY! AND SWEAR!

Winter rushed up at the sound of Jem's scream and thought that Nala may be in danger. They entered the room prepared for anything, thinking the worst. However, they only saw Jem cleaning up broken glass from the floor.

"I'm sorry!" Nala said while holding her tail.

"Just…go downstairs with your mom…I'll clean this mess up." Jem said as he was picking up some old photographs that had fallen off of a chest on one of the bookshelves.

Nala reached down and picked up a picture frame that was still intact.

"Wow, is this you?" She asked as she showed the picture to everyone.

Winter and the others took a look at it, it was a picture of him in his army uniform, it was nothing they hadn't seen before, his camouflage uniform all the way up to his tan ber-

Wait a second, tan beret? But he was airborne, they had a maroon beret.

"Yes." Jem said as he snatched it up and put it in his pocket.

"You looked like my mom! All strict and clean!" Nala giggled as Jem sighed.

"….Please let me clean this up." He really just wanted some peace and quiet.

"Okay!" She said as she gave him a hug and ran downstairs.

"I'm sorry about your picture fra-" Winter started to say but she was cut off by Jem.

"PLEASE go downstairs, I want some peace!" He yelled out at her as she shut up.

She was hurt by this, but knowing that arguing with him would be pointless, she decided to listen and went back downstairs. The others close behind her.

"He lied to us." Blake said as they looked at her.

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked as she didn't understand.

"You saw that picture right?" Everyone did, but what was so special about it.

"Yeah so, we knew he was in the army." Jaune said as a matter of fact.

"That's not it, we knew he was airborne, but that beret, Airborne soldier's don't wear tan berets, the tan beret is a symbol of the Army Rangers!" Blake read enough about the military of the united states to know the difference in uniforms.

And she had to admit, US Marines were sexy as fuck!

"So? Maybe he just forgot, he is old." Nora poined out, but Blake just shook her head.

"I doubt it, did you see the way he was trying to hide those photos from us? Almost like he didn't want us to see it."

"Why wouldn't he want us to see it?"

"I don't know, but the point is why hide the fact he was an Army ranger? In fact, he told us he never saw any semblance of combat in his life, said that he served during peace times, you don't find that odd AT ALL?" Blake was honestly suspicious of him.

"For gods sake Blake! This isn't some novel where the character has an extemelly painful past he doesn't want to talk about!" Weiss pointed out as Blake shrugged.

"Considering we came back when his time has passed by, and he's on the verge of death, I would say otherwise." She then pointed out a list of things.

"For example, when he was younger, he did drink, but have you noticed that he has signifcantly cut out his drinking? Not only that but when he does drink, he's never happy, just solemn, why drink if he doesn't enjoy it? Unless he's trying to hide something…" Blake may have been a bit paranoid, but Jem was being weird.

"Second, why hide certain details about his service in the military, why say he was airborne when he was actually a ranger?" Everyone did find that a bit suspicious.

"And third, he's barely told us anything about his past besides the details about Grandmama and the rest of his family." Okay, they had to admit, this was getting suspicious.

"So what are you trying to say?" She had caught Winter's curiousity.

"That we should try and find out what it is he's hiding."

Winter just decided to go along with it, she turned around and planted her foot on the step…only for her foot to slip on something.

"WOAH!" She said as she caught herself before she fell.

"You okay?" Weiss asked as Winter took sight of what she slipped on.

"Yeah…" She said as she grabbed the object that had caused her flal.

It was an orange prescription bottle labeled 'Jeremiah Richard Cotton' but the label was a bit faded so she couldn't quite read what it was for.

"Guys…something tells me something is terribly wrong here…"


	7. Short chapter: Shooting

**So sorry this chapter's been taking so long, I've been busy in my personal life, been trying to work on other stories. But as you know, CU reported Endless possibilites again, and this time I was forced to cancel it, but don't wory D-Generation XX has volunteered to take the reigns for me and post it on Wattpad.**

 **On another note, good news, my medical paperwork for the army was approved, and I should be off to MEPS soon. I was in such a good mood that I had to finish this and publish it.**

 **Now keep in mind it has been awhile since I published for this, so I'm not sure what plot points I forgot about, so if I did forget something, please feel free to remind me.**

 **This is going to be a short one, but I hope you like it.**

 **Okay**

* * *

"….." Jem was currently sitting on the porch with everyone drinking a beer.

Everyone sat in silence, they didn't really know what to say. And Nala was currently playing with her coloring book. Finally Jem broke the silence by letting out a small sigh and standing up.

"I'm going shooting." Jem said as he got Red Dawn out.

"Can I come?" Nala asked as she finished her coloring book.

"No." Everyone said.

"Why?" Nala was a little disappointed.

"Because you're far too young to be handling gu-" Suddenly Jem cut her off.

"Sure come along." Everyone went slack jawed at that.

"Really?" Nala asked with starry eyes.

"If they're not okay with it, I am." Winter narrowed her eyes.

Now Jem was just trying to screw with them.

"Okay!" Nala said as she held Jem's hand and started walking.

"…Why are you holding my hand?" He asked as this little girl was awfully affectionate.

"It's warm!" She giggled as Jem groaned.

"Are you always this cheerful?" Seriously, her happiness was way too prominent.

"Almost! After all whats the point in being miserable all the time! Sometimes life puts you in circumstances you didn't choose! But being happy or unhappy is a choice you make and I've chosen to make the best of things that I can!" Suddenly Jem stopped walking.

"Did….did you just quote skyrim?" Jem asked as she nodded.

"Yep! I found old games down in the basement, so I tried them out!" Winter and the others were worried that Jem was going to yell about her going through his stuff.

"…How about that." He said as everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good to see someone found a use for that old junk." And there it was again.

"Its fun!"

"Yeah yeah kid, whatever you say." Jem said as they went down to the lake.

Winter and the others caught on to something very simple. If Jem approved of it, it was most likely something they disapproved of. Like just now, none of them believed that Nala was old enough to go shooting, and yet here she was about to go shooting with Jem. Then again, he may have just done it to piss them off, but the point is they may have finally found a way for him to bond with someone.

"PULL!" Jem's voice yelled as they heard the sound of something being thrown.

BANG!

"What was that?" Ruby asked as she heard a noise.

Winter looked through her binoculars at the two down by the lake. Apparently Jem had given Nala free reign over the clay pigeon launcher and she was having a ball launching them into the air.

"PULL!" He yelled again as Nala smiled as she let loose the lever and let another one fly.

"This is fun!" Nala liked watching the gun go off.

Jem actually let out a small smile. But he quickly wiped it off his face.

"Can I try?" She asked as Jem raised an eyebrow.

In reality, he really shouldn't do that. After all, he would rather avoid any fights with Winter. Mostly because her trying to lecture him could be really annoying. But then again, he had been wanting to do something for awhile. Something he could never do with his relatives because they were scared of guns. So he figured he should introduce Nala to the most powerful handgun in the world.

"Tell you what." He handed her a 44 magnum with one bullet in the chamber.

"If you can fire this once, then you can shoot with me." He knew she could pull the trigger, he was waiting for the inevitable recoil.

"Pfft, that's ea-" Nala took aim and fired.

"AAHHH!" She was blown back four feet.

"Ha ha ha ha." Jem quietly laughed as Winter came running down at Nala's scream.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" She yelled as she saw that Nala was currently on the ground in a daze.

"Mommy, how did I get on the ground?" Jem walked over.

"Wow, you should have seen it, you got blown back four feet." Jem was actually laughing.

"You think this is funny?! She could have been hurt!" Jem shrugged his shoulders.

"Relax, that was a blank."

Now that made everyone blink.

"THAT WAS A BLANK?!" No blank should have that amount of recoil.

"Special made, I don't have to explain anything." Suddenly Nala jumped up.

"LETS DO IT AGAIN!" Now that made Winter worry.

"Nala, you just-" But she saw her daughter's face.

"Its okay! I got Grandpa here to help!" That made Jem freeze.

He still didn't like being called that.

"Kid, please don't call me that." Nala only tilted her head at that.

"But you're old!" Jem just gave her an incredulous look.

"Yes….I know that." He really didn't like how….CHEERFUL this little girl was.

"Nothing wrong with being old!"

"Oh trust me kid…there is." Jem gave a look to Winter as he turned back to the shotgun.

"Now load another pigeon." He said as he pumped his shotgun.

"Okay! Can I shoot next?" She asked with stars in her eyes.

"…..Theres an old .20 gauge in the shed that should work, but before you shoot, we're going over safety." Again, Nala tilted her head.

"Shouldn't we have done that before you gave me the other gun?" She remembered the incident with the 44 like it was yesterday. When in reality it was about thirty seconds ago.

"That was more for me to get a laugh."

"Whats so funny?"

"I knew you wouldn't be able to handle it."

"But then wouldn't you know the outcome? Therefore meaning it wouldn't be as funny."

"….You're a real buzz kill aren't you…."

"Nope! Just pointing out the flaws in logic."

"…Do you get beat up a lot in school?"

"Nope!"

"I find that surprising….nerd."

Nala just giggled and hopped over to the shed and grabbed the 20 gauge and brought it back to the table where Jem was teaching her how to handle it. Needless to say, Winter couldn't say she was particularly pleased, nor could she say she was mad. It was nice to see Jem actually bonding with someone, but at the same time, she was mad that he was teaching her about guns when she was so young.

"What kind of little girl wants to-"

BOOM!

"WOOOOO HOOOOO!" Nala's screams of joy were contagious.

"….Great…" Winter knew her daughter was going to be asking her for a gun based on her reaction.

"You know Kid, you're not bad." Winter couldn't believe Jem had said that.

Was he actually liking someone from Remnant? If so, then Winter welcomed the oppurtunity, but that still left one very big issue. How did Winter start to bond with him again? She knew that she could never give him those years back, nor could she give him the same love she gave him years ago. So how did she bond with him? How did she put aside years of wanting to see him again, to return to the way things were, and then it was all torn away, how do you adjust to that?

She didn't know how, but she was determined to do it. Think…what did Jem like.

Guns

God

Freedom

America

Mat Best

Dogs

Okay so she had a vague list and she had to cross some off the list immediately.

God, because he was obviously faithful.

Freedom, he already had it.

America, OBVIOUSLY he was in it.

Mat Best, because she had no idea who that was.

Dogs, obviously he had his dobermans.

Guns, he still had Red Dawn and the armory in his basement.

So what was she supposed to do to bond with him? What did she have to do to have some sort of connection. And that was when it clicked in her head. The answer was right in front of her, and the answer was Nala. Surely Jem would be open minded to forming a familial relationship with Nala, after all, she was already calling him Grandpa.

Even though Jem hated it.

Then again he seemed to hate being called old. She didn't know why….

He kind of reminded her of a Huntsman she met one day in Remnant. What was his name? Vert something? Eh it was probably nothing. The point was she may have something here.

"This is fun!" Nala said as she was now firing an AR 15.

"Grandpa, why is there a man with a funny mustache on the targets?" Nala asked as Winter took notice of the targets.

And then she face palmed, because she should have seen this coming.

First target was of Adolf Hitler.

Second was of Fidel Castro.

Third was Che Guevara.

Fourth was Osama bin laden.

Fifth was Hillary….oh you got to be kidding her!

Jem still HATED her?! Dang what did that woman do when she was gone?

"Because they suck, besides, they're all dead anyways, and I got them for cheap." Jem said as simple as that.

That and once again, he was old so who gives a shit.

"So, do you mind if I join you?" Winter asked as Jem looked her up and down.

"…..Sure." He pointed her to the clay pigeon machine.

"Man the machine, Nala and I got some shooting to do." He said as they both switched to shotguns and got ready to do some trap shooting.

" _Well, it's a start."_ Winter thought as she could handle this.

"PULL!"

But there was still the question...why did Jem lie about the Army Rangers?


	8. GET SOME

**Okay everyone, so another short chapter. And this is going to be the last chapter of this for awhile. Because on monday I leave for basic training. So I'll be gone for a few months. And then there is AIT, so I'll be gone until...maybe March? I'm not sure. The point is, I won't be writing as much. And I wanted to write more, but its hard to write when I'm busy with my own life.**

 **So hope this will keep you held over for awhile.**

 **Also more secondhand lions references.**

* * *

Once again another boring day at Jem's Ranch. Team RWBY and JNPR were plotting ways to try and bond with him. Winter was in the same boat as the two teams. Nala was trying to get her new 'Grandpa' to talk to her and play with her. And Jem was looking out on the porch for traveling salesman or hippies to shoot at.

Overall, a pretty standard day.

"So….is this what you do all day?" Nala asked as she couldn't understand why Grandpa Jem did this.

"It's usually peaceful." He said as he saw a large van pulling up.

"And here we go." He pulled his shotgun out ready to shoot at the salesman.

"DON'T SHOOT! DON'T SHOOT!" The woman who was driving jumped out of her van and was hiding behind the car.

"What the?" Jem had to admit that caught him off guard.

"I just want to talk!" She yelled as she was poking her head out.

"If you want to talk, then come out where I can see you!"

"NO way! I know that trick!"

And Jem…smiled.

"Wow, a challenge, that's actually quite nice."

"WAIT!" Nala yelled as he looked down.

"Oh come on Nala, don't ruin this for me now." Jem finally could feel good about a traveling salesman, and she was going to kill it for him.

"Why not see what she's got? I mean, if she came out here a second time, then maybe she has something good?" Nala suggested as Jem raised an eyebrow.

"What the hell makes you think she's been out here twice?"

"Well, she seemed to know you were going to shoot at her."

"…..I hate your logic." Jem put his shotgun on his shoulder.

"Fine, I'll see what she's got, and then I'll shoot her."

The two teams and Winter's eyes widened again. Here they were having trouble trying to deal with Jem, and yet Nala was breaking through his armor like there was no tomorrow. The little lion faunus had a talent for it, that was for sure. Course, being cute and practically a human kitten helps.

"Phew, thanks for that little…does….does she have a tail?" The saleswoman pointed out.

"Just tell me what you want." Jem had no patience.

"Oh well, The first time I came here, I ignored all your 'No Trespassing' signs…."

"And you're doing it again right now, so what do you want?" Jem really wanted to get this over with.

"Well, I went out and I found the perfect products for someone with a 'Get off my lawn attitude like yourself." The woman than opened the back of her van.

And for once in his life, Jem was absolutely speechless.

"Bear traps, for anyone who walks, spike traps for anyone who drives, and for those people who just don't listen, and this is a very special piece I had to get from Texas." She pointed to the final product.

"An old M134 Minigun, which could be mounted on your house there for either intruders or recreational shooting." The saleswoman smirked in pride.

Jem was silent for a bit.

…

…

…

"Well, I'll give you this, you came with your guns loaded this time. I'll take the minigun, I already have a ton of bear traps." He said as the saleswoman smirked in victory.

"Jem you already have a gatling gun."

"One that I have to crank, this is a newer model." Jem started to write a check.

"Wait, isn't it illegal to have one of these things in Illinois?"

"Not anymore, just really hard to find."

Okay what the hell had changed in the past sixty years that it was legal to own a minigun?

More imporantly, Coco would love this place.

 **A few hours later**

"HA HA HAH AHA HA AHH HAH AHA!" Jem was laughing as he fired bullet after bullet into his lake.

"Well…he's certainly happy." Winter said as Nala was standing right next to him.

"Look a fish!" Nala pointed as a fish was now flying out of the water.

"….You want a try?" Jem asked as Winter spoke up.

"No! Absolutely not! Nala can't ha-" But Nala was already in the postion, granted she had to get up on a chair. But she was ready.

"So I just pull t-" Suddenly Nala was firing bullets.

"WOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Her arms were vibrating as she felt the power surge through her.

And…she….

LOVED IT!

"GEEEEEEEETTTTT SSOOOOOOMMMMMMMMEEEEEE!" She found herself yelling as she fired round and round.

"….Your daughter is really enjoying that." Yang pointed out as Winter threw her hands in the air.

"I told him not to do it, and he does it…he's going to turn my daughter into a weapons nut."

"HEY!" Ruby yelled at Ice Queen Sr.

"You know what I meant."

Right now Nala was happier than Donald Trump at a brick laying business.

"Shouldn't we be happy he's actually talking to someone? And that he didn't shoot the saleswoman?" Yang pointed out as for once he didn't shoot anybody.

"I still don't think its healthy for Nala to be around that kind of weaponry at her age." Winter pointed her thumb at Nala.

"HA HA HA HA HA! HA HA HA HA! HA HA HA HA!" Nala was currently emitting a high pitched laugh like she was Sealy from the Damn few.

"….." Winter was not liking this.

Jem had officially turned her daughter into some gun nut. And he never looked more proud of himself then he did now. Then again, that was the thing. She saw him smiling, and for the first time in a long time. She felt at peace, because it reminded her of the last time she saw him when he was younger. And she did miss those times, and that smile really took her back. It wasn't for long, but it was there.

"Well, we know she's safe with Jem, he wouldn't let anything bad happen to her." Nora said reassuring Winter that she was safe.

In truth Winter knew that Nala was safe. But she couldn't help but worry. Ever since she saved the girl during the fall of beacon, she had been a bit overprotective. Don't get her wrong, she was happy to see how easily the two seemed to be bonding. But at the same time, Nala was happier than Rosie O'Donnel at an all you can eat buffet combined with a titty bar.

"COOOOMMMMEEEEE OONNNNN!" Jem was currently flying a drone that had a long rope hanging off of it, as well as a target.

And the target was once again a picture of Joseph Stalin.

"I thought you wanted her to shoot at Hitler?"

"Oh that's next, but Communists suck too, especially Stalin…." Jem looked back and smiled at the little lion girl laughing like a maniac as she shot the red dead.

Only good kind of red was Ronald Reagan Red. MERICA!

"…..Well, that's one thing that hasn't changed." Winter smiled a bit at knowing that no matter how old he got. One thing remained constant.

He really, REALLY hated communists.

And Hipsters….

And Pumpkin Spice Lattes…

Actually Starbucks in general.

She one time suggested going there when he was driving them back to his house. And he about lost his shit because Starbucks isn't real coffee. Its sugary ice cream shit disguised as coffee. Jem liked his coffee black. Unless of course you had irish cream, but that was only because it had whiskey in it.

Because some days you just got to say fuck it and destroy your liver.

"I LOVE THIS PLACE!" Nala said as she fired all the rounds into the target.

"Good to see someone appreciates it." And…Jem kind of ruined the moment.

Seriously, everytime something started to get good again, he said something that just completely killed the mood.

"Can we get some food?" Nala asked as Jem thought about it.

"Sure." He said as he whistled at everyone.

"Come on, we're going to get something to eat." He said as Winter spoke up.

"What are we having?"

"Whatever the hell I decide." He said as he walked over to his garage.

"But we can't all fit in your truck." Winter pointed out as he pointed inside.

"I have an old van I used back when I used to shuttle kids to MEPS back and forth. It should work for this occasion."

It took a few minutes to get the old shuttle up and running, but the group was soon on their way to a barbecue place.


End file.
